Poetry

He came closer,
He brought his face close to mine.
I turned my face towards the wall.
"Nervous?" he asked.
I nodded my head.
He smiled and offered me his cigarette.
"Are you nervous too?"
He nodded and took the cigarette and kept it aside.
It was still burning, like my dreams.
He brought his lips closer,
Perhaps to kiss me.
My hand created the barrier,
He kissed it.
Along with his lips,
His teardrops also touched my dying body.
"Why? You don't even love me" I asked.
"I love you." He said.
A drop of tear rolled down my cheek,
And finally, I slept peacefully.

Neither beneath anyone nor superior
This well-trodden road whispering,
“Only you are here”.
My breath and my heartbeat,
Such seclusion and me.
It makes me believe in my existence
Being able to feel the universe inside me.
Each step forward,
I seem to learn again and again that life is unpredictable.
Being a guest on this earth,
Whose life is not just a quest, an opportunity,
Or a story to tell or just an experience.
Leaping into the future in little tentative steps,
Never quite knowing what’s to come.
Everything struggling just to exist.
The flow of life so turbulent outside,
But delicate and fleeting inside it seems.
As I walk further,
I come to this realization of being blessed and alive.
To even slightly comprehend this life.
Is it okay to linger?
Clos

Red..
Was her favourite colour..
The colour of her wedding card
Of the vermilion showcasing her marriage
Of the bindi on her forehead
Of the lipstick of her favourite brand
Of the rose, she always kept under the pillow
Of the saree her mother gifted
Of the fingernails always polished in red
She never changed colours.
Red..
Soon became the colour
Of her eyes crying hours at night, and
Of her blood that drained out of her wrists
On one fine red evening.
Her room all stained in red
Where no one was caught red-handed
People said, married life to be colourful
For her.. It was Red
Always Red.
*The poem was originally published in the second edition (June 2018) of With The Coffee (Click here to download your free copy of the magazine).

I opened my eyes,
I was there across the bed,
All alone.
The glitter of my skin, that yesterday shone,
Has faded away.
I walked,
Stumbling on my way.
Who am I?
The girl of the night.
Oh! For the happiness
That I want to receive in the bright light.
My virgin heart,
My bruised body.
My survival,
Is my struggle.
You eat me hungrily at night,
But under the warm sun rays,
You will look at me from the corner of your eyes.
Questioning along with others,
You win the glory of your clean character.
So what, if I am a prostitute?
Who the hell are you?
No, I am not pure,
But yes, I don't fake innocence like you.
My subsistence,
Is in your existence
But shhh!!! Let me take the blame.
I am the predator and you are the innocent prey
Let me walk towards the darkness,...